2 Exert thy energy divine,
And sprinkle the atoning blood;
May Father, Son, and Spirit join,'
To seal this child, a child of God.
TERNAL God, in whom we live,
From whom all blessings we receive;
Ourselves and ours we owe to thee,
And thine we would for ever be.
2 To thee our infant babe we bring,
As a most cheerful offering;
Accept him, Lord, as henceforth thine,
While we our right to thee resign.
3 Lord, in that cov'nant which we share,
O may he have his int'rest there;
And to the outward seal here giv'n,
Do thou annex his seal in heav'n.
4 Now let the whole assembly here,
Find thee the God of Israel near;
Thy choicest blessings, Lord, impart,
And cheer and quicken ev'ry heart.
The same. (P. M.)
OLY Child, our children take
With thyself on us bestow'd,
Partners of thy nature make,
Bless and bring them up for God.
2 Give them in thy grace to grow,
Favourites of the Deity,
Favourites of thy saints below,
Perfectly conform'd to thee.
The same. (P. M.)
WHO is this for
HO is this tender-hearted Friend,
That doth for helpless children care,
That doth my little ones defend,
And in his gentle bosom bare?
The arms, within whose soft embrace
With joy my sleeping babes I see,
They measure uncreated space,
And comprehend eternity.
2 Thy hands upon our children lay,
And bless them in thy service here;
Into their tender hearts convey
A principle of pious fear;
Thee, by a life of holy fear,
Long may they live to glorify,
Or, innocent from earth remove,
And spotless to thy bosom fly.
ESUS, kind, inviting Lord,
We with joy obey thy word,
In their earliest infancy
Bring our little ones to thee.
2 Born they are, like us, in sin,
Touch th' unconscious lepers clean;
Purchase of thy blood they are,
Save them by thy dying prayer.
1 BEHOLD what condescending love
Jesus on earth displays!
To babes and sucklings he extends
The riches of his grace.
2 He still the ancient promise keeps,
To our forefathers giv'n:
Young children in his arms he takes,
And calls them heirs of heav'n.
3" Permit them to approach," he cries,
"Nor scorn their humble name:
"For 'twas to bless such souls as these,
"The Lord of angels came."
4 We bring them, Lord, with thankful hands,
And yield them up to thee:
Joyful that we ourselves are thine,
Thine let our offspring be.
5 Kindly receive this tender branch,
And form his soul for God,
Baptize him with thy Spirit, Lord,
And wash him in thy blood.
6 Thus to the parents and their seed,
Let thy salvation come:
And num'rous households meet at last
In one eternal home.
78. The Passion and Exaltation of Christ. (C. M.)
1 NOW let our lips with holy fear,
And mournful pleasure sing,
The suff'rings of our great High-Priest,
The sorrows of our King.
2 He sinks in floods of deep distress;
How high the waters rise!
While to his heavenly Father's ear,
He sends perpetual cries.
3" Hear me, O Lord! and save thy Son, "Nor hide thy shining face;
Why should thy fav'rite look like one
"Forsaken of thy grace?
4" With rage they persecute the man, "That groans beneath thy wound; "While for a sacrifice I pour
5" They tread my honour to the dust,
"And laugh when I complain;
"Their sharp insulting slanders add
"Fresh anguish to my pain.
6 "All my reproach is known to thee, "The scandal, and the shame;
Reproach has broke my bleeding heart, "And lies defiled my name.
"I look'd for pity, but in vain ;
My kindred are my grief:
"I ask my friends for comfort round,
"But meet with no relief.
8" With vinegar they mock my thirst;
"They give me gall for food:
"And, sporting with my dying groans,
They triumph in my blood.
9" Shine into my distressed soul,
"Let thy compassion save;
"And though my flesh sink down to death,
"Redeem it from the grave.
10" I shall arise to praise thy name,
"Shall reign in worlds unknown;
"And thy salvation, O my God,
"Shall seat me on thy throne."
79. Christ's Passion, and Sinners Salvation. (L. M.)
EEP in our hearts let us record
The deeper sorrows of our Lord ; ·
Behold! the rising billows roll,
To overwhelm his holy soul.
2 In long complaints he spends his breath,
While hosts of hell, and pow'rs of death,
And all the sons of malice join,
To execute their curst design.
3 Yet, gracious God, thy pow'r and love
Has made the curse a blessing prove;
Those dreadful suff'rings of thy Son,
Aton'd for sins which we had done.
4 The pangs of our expiring Lord,
The honours of thy law restor❜d;
His sorrows made thy justice known,
And paid for follies not his own.
5 O! for his sake, our guilt forgive,
And let the mourning sinner live;
The Lord will hear us, in his name,
Nor shall our hope be turn'd to shame.
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